Monthly Archives: February 2013

More encounters between Jaggers and the people in the street, people he is representing in court, I believe. But not sure– he’s really rude to them, asking if they’ve paid Wemmick yet, threatening to drop their cases if they say a single word and shoving them off. Really!

Maybe these are people who are truly guilty of some crime (of owing money, behind on their debt, stealing, etc) and Jaggers knows he can treat them poorly, like scum.

Jaggers leads Pip back to his office and they are met with the clerk and a man named Mike, dressed in velveteen and a fur cap.

I’m having Christmas in February! I had ordered some supplies from Blicks online (some Neocolor II crayons and Le Pen fine point markers) and they arrived yesterday afternoon! Not only that, but I got a tip that a local discount store had bunches of acrylic paint on sale for 99¢! I bought 20 tubes! Bonus! So it was a good day for art supplies and me. I tried out my new Le Pen markers on this sketch of Pip newly arrived in London.

Here is another one of my Day of the Dead fairy tale illustrations. Jack the Giant Slayer… oh, and he also climbed a gigantic beanstalk. I am looking forward to seeing the new movie!

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Mr Jaggers is a trial lawyer and it seems he has helped and is helping many people who are in trouble. He is very popular! Pip describes some of the people waiting about for Jaggers. He watches as Jaggers begins to interact with them. Jaggers demands to know from two men if they have paid Wemmich. The have. They want to talk with Jaggers but he “won’t have it!” He says, waving them off, “If you say a word to me, I’ll throw up the case.” He then goes to two women and starts up a conversation with them, apparently about their case also.

Here is a scale like those usually used to represent “Law”. Jaggers, on one side, is heavier than all the people on the other.

Here are my two head casts, coming along. I added some features. Moving slowly on this but will be done eventually! I’m thinking the two head casts in Jaggers’s office were made from decapitated heads from criminals that Jaggers had represented. (ICK!)

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It’s a hot summer day in London: “dust and grit lay thick on everything.” Pip can’t take the head casts staring at him any longer (in Jaggers’s office) so he goes out for a walk. He ends up by St Paul’s and Newgate Prison. Quite a number of people are milling about mostly smelling of spirits and beer. Pip takes this to mean that court is in session.

A drunk minister of justice gives Pip an interesting tour of the gallows yard, where the convicted are publicly whipped and hanged, and the Debtor’s Door. Poor Pip gets a sickening feeling about London. He gives the guy a shilling just to get rid of him and end the tour!

He then walks to a different section of town and discovers that other people are also waiting for Jaggers.

I am still working on the two head casts and will add more layers of plaster today. In the meantime, I did this painting collage of Pip’s profile. I think it came out nicely. I’ll post pics of the head casts soon!

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Pip waits in Mr Jaggers’s warm dismal office for him to return. He studies the odd objects about the room and becomes especially spooked by two head casts on a shelf collecting dust and soot. He describes the faces as swollen and “twitchy about the nose.”

I have decided to do two “close to life-sized” head sculptures to resemble the spooky head casts in Jaggers’s office. I have been wanting to do a 3D object with this project and now is my chance! I made two large balls of aluminum foil and then started covering them with plaster tape. I can’t remember what this stuff is called, but it is a roll of mesh material that is covered in dried plaster. You cut it in strips then dip in water. Lay them across your armature, pressing them in. I am thinking these two heads are casts of two criminals that were hanged. Criminals that perhaps Jaggers had represented in court. Creepy! No wonder Pip is spooked.

This project will take me about a week so I will post my progress. In the meantime, I have read the next few pages and will be posting those also as I work on these head casts. (I’ve been watching Face Off – I got some good ideas from that show!)

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I’m back, from a short hiatus! My mother came to visit so I took a break from my freelance and blog. Now, back to it…

Pip arrives in London after a five hour, 4-horse carriage ride from his home town. (The horses were changed out regularly.) His first impression of London: “ugly, crooked, narrow and dirty”. I am sure there was much more noise and pollution, plus crowded-ness than in his small village.

Dickens describes the city coach which Pip switches to for the short ride to the home of Jaggers. It is much more fancier than the one he traveled in. Fancy, but time-worn. Once at Jaggers’s home, he asks if he is there. That’s it, for now!

Did a quick sketch of a four horse carriage. I have drawn maybe only one other horse in my life. Some girls are REALLY into horses. I just never was. But they are beautiful, stronge creatures. The opposite of these beautiful creatures: the infamous GRUMPY CAT! I LOVE this cat! He really looks like he just needs a hug!

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I dug out my vine charcoal and did a quick sketch of Pip riding in the coach on his journey to London. I should do this more often; it gives a pleasing effect and is quick and easy to use!

Pip has a final meal with his family on the night before his departure. In the morning, after a quick breakfast, he walks to the coach station alone. He admits to himself that he would be ashamed of Joe’s appearance if he walked with him. As he is leaving he hears a commotion from behind. It’s Joe and Biddy throwing old shoes at him! Must be some form of good luck!

Pip gets emotional as he approaches town, bidding farewell to the sign post. A bit later, once in the coach, he thinks, “the world lay spread before me.”

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Miss Havisham is “taking exercise” walking around the moldy bride-cake on the long table. The room is as dark and dismal as before. Nothing has changed.

Pip tells her of his good fortune and that he is leaving for London tomorrow. He wishes to say good-bye to her. In a way, he’s just trying to thank her for the fortune, assuming she’s the one who gave it to him. She makes no acknowledgement that she is the benefactor. But she seems to know a lot about the the details of Pip’s fortune and future. Mainly that Pip has to always keep his name “Pip”.

He kneels, kisses her hand and has a vision of her as his fairy godmother. (More like evil stepmom!)

I did a collage with two kinds of wings, fairy wings and bird wings. Pip will be leaving soon for London, flying away from all he’s known!

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My name is Julie and I'm reading Great Expectations one page a day and also creating one little work of art (30 minutes or less) a day relating to what I read. Thanks for looking and reading. Leave a comment to let me know what you think!

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